Disclaimer: HTTYD isn't mine.
Author's Note: Sorry that it has taken me forever to update: I've just gotten a job, started working intensely on summer work (*shudder*) and I'll be going away from Friday until Monday. Don't hate on me because when I don't update. I know the plot doesn't really advance much but this is being used mainly because I am unsure of what I am going to do with part of the plot at this point. There are several ways I could make it go and I figured y'all would kill me if I didn't update before I left. Thanks so much for the great reviews! If you wouldn't mind, keep 'em comin!
Hiccup hung his head. Fantastic, Hiccup, he thought sarcastically, now you've really done it. Why don't you ever just keep your mouth shut? She actually seemed touched until you ruined the beauty of the moment with your brilliant candor.
Everything would have been almost okay if he had just let her compliment him…but her compliment made him uncomfortable: that was the first true compliment he had ever received. "I never thought I'd say this, but what you're saying completely makes sense. I like the way you think. You're one of the few people around here who actually does!" No one had ever given Hiccup a proud or thoughtful glance.
He didn't enjoy being friendless, but the company of his own thoughts that were logical and made sense was more pleasurable than the critical stares and judgments of the others in the village. He had always secretly scoffed at those who found themselves to be superior when they had no brains and all brawn. Hiccup vowed to himself a long time ago that he would never end up being like them and letting compliments, if he ever got any, get to his head. Now that he had gotten a compliment, he didn't know how to react. Obviously, the way he reacted was not one he planned to use in the future.
Hiccup was indeed touched by her flattery, but her words following just didn't make sense. Astrid was right; there was a disgusting lack of thought on the Isle of Berk. Without a doubt, Hiccup saw her as one of those people. Within the past twenty-four hours, she had caused a tree to fall on his head out of pure anger,-Hiccup had not been entirely sure that was a coincidence- openly told her distaste to the face of one who she knew liked her, -which confused Hiccup as to why she had even asked him that question in the first place- and punched Snotlout in the arm-again, completely clueless as to why she had done that-. It was ironic that she was laughing about people who didn't look before they leapt.
What Astrid had said afterward plagued Hiccup more than anything. Did his thoughts really make him…weak? A derisive voice inside his head said, If you're talking about figuratively, then certainly you meet the requirements. But was what she said true? Did his surplus of wit mean he was he lacking in courage?
"Of course I am," Hiccup said aloud with a sigh.
He felt something wet trickle down his face. It took him a second to remember that the ice that Astrid had given him for his black eye was still on his face. It had melted, though. If one thing had gone right that night, it was that Astrid had saved him again. A sliver of hope came to Hiccup as he discovered that. Despite his big mouth, despite his so-called weakness, and even though he was sure that Astrid didn't feel the way he did about her, she had saved him again. She tended to do that…
For that he was grateful. It would have been a pain to walk around Berk with a black eye for a few weeks. Hiccup could just see the look on Gobber's face if he showed up to the shop now. He figured he'd better not visit Gobber this time. His invention could wait. He could fix it tomorrow, assuming the dragons wouldn't destroy it. But that was silly. What would anyone want with something as crazy as that?